Friday, August 9, 2013

The City of Octzel in the Warlords Era

Octzel started as one of the first cities I detailed in depth back in the 80's, and it has continued to be an important location across eras of play spanning nearly twenty centuries. Like many historic European cities, Octzel has a venerable legacy which outlives empires and kingdoms, morphing and adapting over the ages to survive as the capitol of the region and the center of power for the throne of the kingdom. Octzel is also where my original Lingusia campaign evolved rapidly into a thieve's guild campaign, in which my sister's original thief character fought his way up the guild ladder of the Black Lotus Guild to eventually gain respect and then at last seize control of the underworld. For centuries the Black Lotus Gang was the principle thieve's guild in the city, serving both as ally and enemy to other later characters in future campaigns.

The write-up below was my initial foray into updating the capitol for the era of the Warlords of Lingusia (a.w. 3,500) and will be the springboard from which I evolve the city into a new era of skulduggery and mischief!

Capitol Octzel

Octzel’s capitol, first founded as a penal colony for Hyrkania nearly
two thousand years ago, is one of the oldest cities in the Middle Kingdoms, and
despite the centuries of turmoil and the lengthy dark age that descended on the
land after the Cataclysm, it remains the third largest city in the Middle
Kingdoms (right after Hyrkadin; Yllmar is the largest) despite the fact that
the focus of trade between the east and west has shifted to the routes through
the Sea of Amech. Octzel remains strong as the center of trade with the north,
and especially with is alliances in distant Il’Dranir. The mysterious region of
north-western Il’Dranir first opened up to trade and exploration about two
centuries ago after it was formally discovered by the Octzellan explorer Targas
dann Malik, and the many wonders and mysteries of that distant continent are
only now becoming available to the Middle Kingdoms.

Octzel’s landscape has changed over the centuries, for much of its area
was located in a shallow bay along the coast, with a larger percentage of the
city entrenched along the high cliffs of the bay. As a result, much of Octzel’s
old city is now located beneath the lengthy shallow, bay, and it’s palace and
old city is now an island in the center of this bay. Beyond, the new city of
the land stretches out, and is protected by a wall even greater in size than
Octzel’s old wall, which ran along the circumference of the old bay, and is
still visible in portions of the city where it was constructed on the highland
areas. This is not unusual for many coastal cities; virtually any region of
land along the old coast within 150 feet of sea level was immersed during the
post-cataclysmic “greenhouse event” in which the great polar masses along the periphery
of the world were melted as a side-effect of the cataclysm. Octzel was
fortunate that it was built along and around a shallow bay with such high
cliffs in the region, and is indeed the only accessible point along the rocky
cliffs of the northern peninsula to hold such a position for ships to dock.

In its heyday Octzel was believed to have a population of one hundred
thousand or more, if you counted the farmlands and countless villages that
dotted the landscape to provide agricultural support for the city. These days
the population is believed to be slightly less, perhaps as few as 80,000
strong, but the region has developed several townships. Even the Veraggen
Mountains have become a populace location, with half a dozen communities
thriving in the region.

The city of Octzel is now divided in to the following regions:

The Old City and Palace

Located on an island in the heart of the bay, Old City (once known as
the Inner City) is where the bulk of the most ancient architecture can be
found, surrounding the Royal Palace, the same building which was originally
constructed by the mad king Donn-Dadera. Those few who are still privy to the
many hidden byways and secret passages of the palace know that much of it is
now below sea level, and while some passages are now flooded, a large
percentage of it remains intact, and seemingly water-proof.

The Old City still includes many famous features that have been with the
legendary city since its early inception, including the Wall of Dreams, the legendary Urian
Row, and the Royal Gardens,
where the ancient remnants of Quirak’s lost tower can still be seen, long ago
used for decorative reconstructions by the druids of the sacred grove within
the gardens proper.

The largest mansions are located
in Old City, stretching high, sometimes to five or more stories, to take
advantage of the limited space on the small isle. The streets are narrow, and
sometimes not even accessible by cart or wagon, and palanquins are very popular
among the decadent rich. The north east corner of the isle, adjacent to the
palace, holds the new Watchtower, where the Royal Guard stands strong in
protection of the king. It is here, along with large store houses within and
beneath the palace, that supplies are stockpiled should the Old City ever come
under siege. Such provisions were first begun during the years of the Plague of
Unarak, when ships full of undead crew were striking, like northern raiders,
along the coast in random fashion. There is a great warship, the galleon called
Enki’s
Might, still resting along the docks of Old City for display, magically
preserved as a relic of the ancient war, as it was the ship that the great
admiral Sageros gonn Aleric used to lead the Octzellan fleet against the ragtag
undead navy that sailed from unknown parts of the east, to be destroyed not far
from the coast of Picadore Isle. This ship, and the legacy of gonn Aleric, who
rose up to cast off the sour yoke of his grandmother Catea’s legacy of
necromancy to become one of the land’s legendary heroes is a very popular
tavern tale in the city these days.

Another popular location in Old City, one known to many for countless
years yet now displaced, is the Tavern
over the Inn. This tavern was located squarely in the middle of the lowland
region of the city, and when the dike-lands were flooded during the early years
of the deluge, its owners picked up and moved to a property in the Inner City
region of the time, owned by the legendary Black Lotus guild of old times (not that anyone knew of
that, officially.) It has since become a famous respite along the Old City
docks that eventually sprang up nearby, after the deluge concluded. The tavern
continues to earn its name, as the vast and regular levels of construction atop
the remnants of older buildings have guaranteed that the tavern has numerous
sub-levels, and indeed it even connects to the Under City region, as well. Historically the tavern has served as a safe haven for thieves and other criminals to meet and conspire, and even today it's reputation and legacy continue.

The Under city

The Under City is a region of underground city streets and shops that were
buried beneath newer levels of construction on the island, and served for many
decades as a place of respite for the beggars and underclass of the city, until
the various thieves and merchants guilds organized to excise the local
squatters and turn the Under City in to a place of profit. Over the last few
centuries Under City has prospered, but become a notorious place for seedy
activities and criminal dealings. Today, the Under City is where smugglers,
sailors, thieves and other unsavory types go to conduct business, as well as
being a center of trade and commerce for gambling, prostitution and even
slavery.

The Main City

The main city of Octzel is stretched out along the coast, nestled
protectively behind the Great Wall, which was built during the dangerous years
after the flood during the threat of the Plague of Unarak. The full city proper
stretches along seventeen miles of coast, like a great band, and there is a
brisk trade among ferrymen to carry passengers from one stretch of the coastal
city to the next. To the average visitor of Octzel, the city feels like one
long stretch of pleasant townships and burroughs along the coast, all united
under one rule. The largest portion of the city is concentrated along the
region closest to the isle of the Old City, and here the main city is bulked
out somewhat, and includes the main body of the merchant quarters, the
dockyards, the fairgrounds and Fort
Agaskar, which stands as the center of the Octzellan military, and is the
staging ground for all activities that require the king’s army.

Octzel has always been a center of trade and commerce, and the modern
city is no exception. It harbors the largest trade center in the Middle
Kingdoms for commerce with the northlands of Autrengard, as well as the
frontier kingdoms of Chasiere and Hytaskos. It is the only current city in the
Middle Kingdoms to engage in brisk commerce with Il’Dranir, specifically the
kingdoms of Chaladea, Suri-Varkos
and Shemvata.

Next up: I'm actually going to provide some additional overviews of other equally appropriate cities for a "medieval bastards" campaign before I decide which one to elaborate on. I may even provide the original (far more detailed) overview of Octzel from a thousand years earlier. We'll see...

The important thing is that in a million years, when the brain-worms of Arcturus IX have annihilated us throughout the galaxy, there will be no surviving recordings of blogs to be found by the cephalopods that evolve to replace us. In this way will their civilization advance and prosper.